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Greetings from Beverly in Texas

Have had my heart set on an AT thru hike since a teen and recently have become almost obsessive about it though there is no chance until I retire. Today I was encourage to think about doing the hike in a hammock instead of a tent.

I have not considered this before because of several questions:

how do you keep your gear dry?
what do you do if there are no trees close enough together?
what if there is a storm that insists that you hunker down for more than a night? Are you stuck without a way to cook and eat?
what about strong winds?

Still, I have spent the entire day looking at hammocks and thinking more and more that it would be the solution to certain other problems like getting up off the ground, sleeping comfortably, and perhaps there are adequate solutions to my questions.

Does anyone know of a place in the Dallas area where one could actually see one set up and try them on for size?

Welcome from the west coast of Canada!

Hello Beverly,

Welcome to Hammock Forums from Victoria on Vancouver Island. Your questions are quite valid....at first hammock camping seems quite different than tent camping. However, on this forum you'll find all your questions answered, and then some!

Trying a hammock before getting one is a good idea, and seeing a complete set up (tarp and hammock) will help you get a better understanding of how things work.

I've definitely seen trip reports on the Appalachian Trail...try "AT" in the search field.

Cheers,
Coffeedrinker

“Sometimes,' said Pooh, 'the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.”
― A.A. Milne

Hi Beverly and welcome to the forum from a native Texan, your in luck for trying out gear, next month @ fairfield state park, there is the fall "Texas hang", should be around 70+ hammocks in the trees, there will be all the various hammocks and I'm sure some tents, but would be a great time to find out everything you want to know and more, I'm sure within the group there are AT trippers with advice. It is a great group of people, go over to the section on hangs trip planning etc for more details, once you get off the ground you won't go back, jim

welcome from Canada. Beverly Have a look in the video area for Shugs 10 pt video series and that should answer some of your questions about hunkering down, staying warm, rain etc. Hanging is actually a dryer space than tenting cause your off the ground. A good tarp does all the work a shelter needs. You could also look up Just Jeff's
"To the Woods", another good reference place. For about $10 you can become a donating member and that gives you access to allot of sub forums here like backpacks, cooking, cutlery, paddling etc. Also there are periodic texas hangs and if one happens near you it would be a good place to check lots of stuff out,
hope this help[s.

bill

" The mind creates the abyss, the heart crosses it."

“The measure of your life will not be in what you accumulate, but in what you give away.” ~Wayne Dyer